thinking of traing for the Tri.

[JamesP123]

so..I have always loved to watch the triathlon and I know a few friends who have raced a few. What im wondering is , I am not a strong swimmer , but I have been running / biking for the past ten years.

I like to go fast but im worried that my swimming will slow me down by a lot. Is it possible for me to become a good enough swimmer to not only race in a tri , but do well?

any tips? or thoughts on this , it will help ..thanks

[bicycle.boy]

Many of the elite in triathlon have a weakness, for some it is swimming, for others it is cycling.

That said, I think it is definitely possible to become a better swimmer and improve your chances.

[jonovision_man]

I like to go fast but im worried that my swimming will slow me down by a lot. Is it possible for me to become a good enough swimmer to not only race in a tri , but do well?

The swim is the shortest leg (distance and time) in almost every triathlon, so it's the right place to have a weakness.

I'm no expert swimmer, but in a year I went from having troubles blowing bubbles under water to reasonably competent and comfortable (I'm not the slowest in my advanced tri swimming class! ). I don't see any reason why someone couldn't improve to the point of being competitive if they put the time in to perfect their form.

jono

[CinC]

Just throwing it out there.

When my husband did his first tri in Jul 07, he was 13th out of the water (there were only 42 competitors in a super-sprint tri) with a swim time of 2:50/100m - he finished that tri in 2nd overall (was first on the bike and run portions in the end).

Kudos to him, he spent a crap load of time in the pool, and this past year at Ironman Canada, did a 1:14 swim for the 3.8k (with a pace of 1:58/100m) - now, he didn't come in second at IMC, but did have a good day!

[scrumhalfgirl]

I would say yes - if you're willing to put in the work. Athletically oriented people can often pick up swimming more easily because they have good coordination and body awareness. So, with patience (and perhaps some coaching) they are able to improve their form because they are able to make their body do what they want it to do.

Though you may never be as fast as someone who has been swimming competitively since childhood, even a 5 minute deficit on the swim can be made up on the bike and run.

I know a guy here who had a running background and wanted to get into multi-sport. He did duathlons (run-bike-run) for his first season while working on his swimming. He is now winning local tris. He may come out of the water a couple of minutes down, but is able to make it up on the bike and run.

[JamesP123]

thanks for the advice everyone ...I am willing to put in the work for this.
what are the distances for each event? running is 10k? I have seen so many different types of tri's I dont know how far the race really is.

[TriJenn]

A 10k run would make it an Olympic distance. Most sprints have a 5k run along with a 25k bike and a swim of varying distance. Sprints are not "official" distances like Oylmpic (aka International) or Ironman distance.

Normally a sprint is somewhere along the lines of 500m (or 750m) 25k-5k

You can totally do it if you train for it- so go for it!!

Jenn

[Wu wei]

so..I have always loved to watch the triathlon and I know a few friends who have raced a few. What im wondering is , I am not a strong swimmer , but I have been running / biking for the past ten years.

I like to go fast but im worried that my swimming will slow me down by a lot. Is it possible for me to become a good enough swimmer to not only race in a tri , but do well?

any tips? or thoughts on this , it will help ..thanks

If you bike as well as you run... top 10's in 2 years with proper swim training.

[eljeffe]

Just throwing it out there.

When my husband did his first tri in Jul 07, he was 13th out of the water (there were only 42 competitors in a super-sprint tri) with a swim time of 2:50/100m - he finished that tri in 2nd overall (was first on the bike and run portions in the end).

Kudos to him, he spent a crap load of time in the pool, and this past year at Ironman Canada, did a 1:14 swim for the 3.8k (with a pace of 1:58/100m) - now, he didn't come in second at IMC, but did have a good day!

Interesting, that's similar to me. When I went in my first tri in 2007, I was second last out of the water, and last by the time I figured out T1. But I was in 4th after the bike and 1st after the run.

I'm shooting for sub 1:15 in the IMC swim too, but now with the coaching I think that I'll be faster than that. I'm swimming just over 3km in an hour now so I'm getting close to where I want to be.